Thursday

The Dish Rag Tag is in full swing and I was tagged by Toni our Team Captain. Here are the goodies I received from her, sock/needle holders candy and a beautiful dishrag. I knitted away on my dishrag and Amanda is next in line to receive the box.. GO Yarnia GO!

Last Thursday our knitting group met at a new location and boy did we have a good turnout! Jessi of Alabama Fiber Dreams was there and showed us some of her new hand dyed yarn and guess who she gave a skein to - yes me! Thank you so much Jessi you are so sweet! Her newest yarn is Emily which is a merino /tencel blend and is the softest. I believe she will start selling some of her yarn soon too.

The Race is Starting Soon

Yes the race starts Friday and our team Chronicles of Yarnia is going to win! We have mapped out our strategy and I will be the first person to receive the box after out team captain. For those of you not familiar with the DRT, Emily of Yarn Miracle has hosted the race for 3 years. Participants will receive a box with a completed dishrag, a pattern, a goodie, and yarn to knit another dishrag to send to the next team member. There are 10 teams with 10 people per team with the object being or last member receiving the box to mail Emily a finished dishrag and goodie.

Last night as I was going outside to feed the fish I saw a large "bird" flying into the trees. The fish didn't even come up for their food and were at the bottom of the pond so I know they were frightened. I ran and grabbed the camera and think the "bird" is a hawk. This morning my 5 koi are all accounted for!

A New Project and WOW

I have decided instead of knitting another pair of socks that I will finish a WIP first and of course I had to start a new project After seeing Susan's new Feather Duster Shawl pattern I knew that it would be a great lightweight summer knit. I am on the third repeat of Chart B and guess I am about 1/3 finished (no complicated math but just a guess). I am using ShiBui Silk Cloud.

For Whiskers on Wednesday today I have no action shots but sleepy ones!

WOW and Socks

I have had a request to post more kitty pictures on WOW (Hi Nikki!). Three out of the 4 were cooperative this morning. Since Taz had to visit Dr. Jimmy this past Saturday he has tried to stay hidden under the coffee table but Beamer just wants attention.

Hershey has ventured out more from the back of the house and I think Beamer's sight and smell aren't quite as sharp as he gets older and he doesn't pay as much attention to Hershey.

The latest pair of socks to be finished were a pattern from Socks from the Toe Up by Wendy Johnson.

Holiday Travel

As I am delayed yet once again, I have a few minutes to tell you of my short vacation to New England. I was meeting up Thursday with DH in Detroit and then we were heading to Manchester, New Hampshire and New England for a long 4th weekend. Well DH made it to Detroit and on to Manchester but I was delayed and had to speed the night. Friday we finally got together and headed to King Arthur Flour in Norwich, Vermont. I have always wanted to go and have ordered from them many times.

After a few purchases we headed out for White River Yarns in White River Junction, VT. The most helpful owner (whose name I sadly didn't get) gave me a lesson in Judy's Magic cast on and knitting with the double loop method. I did buy some sock yarn and what a wonderful experience.

Then it was off to Cabot Cheese in Cabot, VT where we have visited before and now we only buy Cabot cheeses. We took the short tour and tasted lots of good cheeses.

And we were on the road again and what beautiful scenery!

As we continued on the "Food Tour", Ben and Jerry's was the next stop. Since they weren't producing any ice cream on the line and we had taken the tour before, we opted just to sample a cone of ice cream. I had Oatmeal Cookie Crunch which was delicious! DH asked for Cherry Garcia but he actually got something else. The rain started just as we were leaving.

Exciting( Or Not) Sunday

Around noon on Sunday when a second round of thunderstorms came through, our power went out. After looking outside we realized that a tree in the yard(vacant lot) next door to us had taken the power lines down. There were live wires in our front yard as well as across out driveway. DH called the power company immediately and they responded immediately with a scouting truck and told us that help was on the way. Within 30 minutes there were 2 Georgia Power bucket trucks as well as a local bucket tree truck.

They also replaced the transformer.

Many thanks to Alabama and Georgia Power for the very fast service!

I did finished the Sunrise Socks.

Yarn- Yarn Pirate Superwash Merino

Colorway - Sweet Pea

Pattern - Sunrise Socks from Wendy Knits

Needles - 2.5 mm DPNs

This was a great pattern to show off the colorful yarn.

Next up is a pair of socks I am knitting for a vendor for Sock Summit. Details later.

Socks Socks and More Socks

I had a hard time finding a pattern for the next pair of socks. The yarn is so colorful that several patterns that I started just didn't work out. After searching for a while I decided to try Sunrise Socks from Wendy Knits. I think I found a perfect match! The yarn is Yarn Pirate in the Sweet Pea colorway

DH and I enjoyed a relaxing long Memorial Day weekend but I am so glad that it is Friday. Other than taking Cisco(for his weekly fluids) to Dr. Jimmy tomorrow I plan on maybe picking up an unfinished sweater (CeCe) from last year. I am not making any promises though.

Wee Tiny Sock

My Wee Tiny Sock arrived this weekend and just look how cute ! My Pal was Jan from Minnesota. She used Noro Silk Garden and even made a cuff.

Thanks to Emily and Jan for such a fun swap.

I have had a lot going on lately but I plan on keeping up with blogging . My SIL and I went to Stitches South in Atlanta a couple of weekends ago and had such a fun time. We found so many fun projects to keep us busy for a while. We had to shop at Miss Babs where several skeins of yarn fell into the bag and also some roving that had to come home with me. Brooks Farms was also a must have and I have already finished a scarf from the yarn.

Brooks Farm Yarn

Solo 100% fine wool

Journey Scarf (pattern free with purchase)

We were also treated to a delicious dinner at Bones by my friends Elizabeth and John from Asheville who also had come down for Stitches. I have known Elizabeth from the blogging world and she is famous for the Knit Bloggers cookbook which she published.

DH with the help of our BIL just finished cutting up a huge branch that fell across the driveway during a brief storm last night. We had to have it moved just so we could get out this morning.

Knitting and Felting

I have been busy lately and not all of the work has been knitting. Diane and I took a class from Jennif Chandler on Feather Light felted scarfs at SAFFand put what we learned in class to work. Here are 3 scarfs that I made last weekend. The technique is not hard but takes a little elbow grease.

I also did a little stash enhancement at SAFF which I haven't showed you. First up is a pile from Miss Babs who we had the pleasure to talk with when she wasn't busy.

I also started a scarf from Brooks Farm Duet yarn which is 50/50 kid mohair and fine wool. I can see now what all of the hype is about Brooks Farm. I might have also bought enough yarn for a sweater too but more on that later.

Trick or Treat Pal

I arrived home Sunday night to a box decorated with all things Halloween but I saved it until Monday night to savor all of the goodies. Tonni did such a great job wrapping the packages with Halloween ribbon and cute take out boxes decorated with bats.

I couldn't wait to dig in.

Besides the beautiful socks she included beautiful roving in beautiful colors of orange, purple and golds. She even found the perfect card and cute hand towels. Check out the bags of candy corn and M&Ms. Also she found the cutest pumpkin bells and a ball of orange Sugar'n Cream yarn.

Thank you Tonni for such a wonderful and fun package!

As hard as I tried I only have a lame picture for Whiskers on Wednesday. My kitties weren't very cooperative in the costume contest. Beamer was the only one who tolorated a picture.

What a Wonderful Trip

We had such a good time that Diane and I are planning out next trip next year. We ran into Mercedes and Kristen at the hotel from Knit Nouveau. We were in sensory overload as soon as we walked in the door Friday morning.

We met up with Bibby at Gale's Art and shopped around together where we saw Tonni( who I found out was my Trick or Treat pal when I got home). I didn't see Grace who was there too.

Diane and I took the Featherlight Felted Scarf and had a fun time. Jennif was a great teacher and here is Diane with her scarf.

Saturday we shopped around more of course and took a Crocheted Beaded jewelry course where I didn't get any pictures because I was concentrating too much. That night again per Elizabeth's suggestion we had a great salad and pizza at Apollo Flame Bistro.

Bright and early Sunday morning, Diane had a beginning spinning class and I had the fancy heel sock class that Charlene Schurch taught. She was a very good teacher and I can't wait to try out some of the techniques. I didn't even think to take my books for her to sign. After class Vera came by class so we could meet. We have been blogging friends for years and I also got to meet her spinning husband Patrick.

We stopped by to see the animals too.

We had a hard time leaving bu took the scenic way home. The first stop was Dillsboroand some wonderful artsy shops. Another scenic stop in Lake Junaluska.

On to Nanahala and the Ocoee (which I have actually rafted down). Earl was so inspired by SAFF that he knitted a scarf on the way home.

Pay It Forward

Monday I received a wonderful package from Karen. I had signed up for Pay It Foward on her blog and here is how it works.

I will make and send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment to this post on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I do not know what that gift will be yet, and it won’t be sent this month, probably not next month, but it will be sent (within 6 months) and that’s a promise! What YOU have to do in return, then, is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

She made the perfect napkins and of course the handspun Colonial Wool in "Agate Beach". Thank you so much Karen. Please sign up so I can Pay It Forward!

I have my Trick or Treat package ready to go and here is a sneak peek at the socks.

I have also finished the Secret of the Stole III and here it is in its unblocked state.

Octpus Knits honored me with a blog award and I feel very honored. She is an amazing spinner, knitter and photographer.

Here are the rules*:

1. Please put the award on your blog.2. Add a link to the person who awarded you.3. You must nominate at least 4 fellow bloggers for this award.4. Add links to the recipients.5. Leave a comment so the recipients know they have received an award.

Pictures and More Pictures

Life has been a little hectic lately therefore the lack of posting. About 3 weeks ago we traveled to Mentone for a girls weekend at my SIL house. We had a great time visiting Rising Fawn Fiber, Miracle Pottery, the fun shops downtown and dinner at the Wildflower Cafe. We did knit a little and tried to teach Diane to spin. Darlene, Ashleigh, Cindy, Suzanne, Diane and I am just waiting until next time we can get together